Tony Bryant

  During the July of 2021, I had the pleasure of participating in an episode of CNN’s travel documentary Quest’s World of Wonder. British journalist and CNN anchor man Richard Quest had chosen Málaga to record an episode of his popular travel series, seeing as he has a 40-year connection to the province. His parents purchased an apartment in Fuengirola back in the ‘70s, and so Richard uses this as his base when visiting the area on vacation. I was first approached by his research team in 2020, but the Covid pandemic derailed the project. However, now that we are seeing a return to some sort of normality, the programme was rescheduled, so the ever-curious journalist arrived in Málaga in July to start work on the production. As well as being interviewed about my connection to the world of orthodox flamenco, I acted as the cable news network’s middle man in Andalucía. CNN had also lined up a string of local celebrities to interview, including  Prince Hubertus von Hohenlohe, s...

The life of one of Utrera’s true ambassadors is to be turned into a new docufilm, which is currently being filmed on location in Utrera and in other districts of Seville. Something Wild: The story of Bambino tells the history of this celebrated singer’s life, from the white-washed streets of Utrera to Madrid, and back. The film’s director, Paco Ortiz, was tasked with documenting Bambino’s illustrious, and also confusing and tragic, life story, and he claims that his film will put the record straight once and for all. Born in Utrera in 1940, Miguel Vargas Jiménez was an ambassador of the rumba-flamenca, a style of flamenco that helped (along with its reputation as one of the cradles of flamenco) Utrera pin itself firmly into the history of flamenco. Better known as Bambino, he became one of the town’s most celebrated artistes, branching away from his family’s long flamenco tradition to create his own intimate style that turned him into one of the most commercially successful flamen...